1/12 Lamborghini Countach lp400

Hello,
After the recent Mini build I decided to stick to the 1/12 scale for (at least) one more project. I decided that it was finally time for one of my favorite models (and cars) - the awesome doyusha countach. Perhaps it is not 100% accurate and it has its flaws, but it is a very nice kit, which will definitely be fun to build.

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140802_200255_zps8a1c89e7.jpg

I started from assembling the rear frame and parts of the suspension (which is operating btw:) ) to make sure that it won't be too hard to install engine in it. My concerns were actually justified as it quickly turned out, the hole in the firewall was a bit too narrow and it would probably be impossible to install the engine without scratching it. The engine block and gearbox were painted and some etched rivets added to it.

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140802_163337_zps897bea53.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140802_195929_zps6b13a711.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140802_195917_zps8c36297b.jpg

On some of my reference photos the fuel tanks were covered with protective paint. Since parts of them will be seen through the wheel arches, I tried to recreate this effect by spraying fairly thick layer of 3m spray mount and painting it flat black. I'm quite happy with the result. At least it will make this part of the model a bit more interesting:)
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140727_143340_zpsa7f929e4.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140727_143407_zps44d2a28d.jpg

That's all I managed to do on it so far. Hopefully, this project will go smoother than the last one:)
Atb
Emil

I've built 2 of these 1/12 countach kits. The trans fitting into interior tunnel must be opened up, but that is the main fit issue. Other than that you will want to check body panels & make sure you allow for paint thickness.
These are great kits & fun to build. Very accurate for the most part. The body is slightly off, but one hardly minds after its finished. It's not as noticable in person, especially the LP400 version.
I'll be watching this thread, so keep up the good work!
P.S. I've seen the fuel tanks both coated black as well as a raw tan color...even just the outer sides (wheelwell side) coated black.
Good luck!

Great start. Very interesting subject...

Very keen on watching this one!!

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

corvettekid_7684, I saw your both lambos - they look phenomenal!!! I will definitely use them for reference - especially the engine bay. I am super curious about the spare tire though. What tire did you use for it? I tried lots of stuff but it was either too wide or too large/small...

Thanks! I simply lucked out with spare parts for finding a spare tire. I think its from a monogram kit ("street" tires for Corvette, camaro etc). I could use a few more ;) I'm sure I have an extra wheel if you need one. The 500S kits have the LP400 wheels but no tires. I've been hoarding these big countach kits, lol
If you have any questions feel free to ask. I'm not very good at write ups in my wip threads...no patience for it I guess, lol

Thanks! I tested the Camaro tire. It seemed quite a lot bigger than the countach one, but I guess it won't be that obvious once it's in the car. I also have a spare set of doyusha lp400 tires. I'm thinking about cutting one in half to make it narrower to fit the trunk. I'll try to post some pictures this weekend

Oh please don't cut them! The LP400 kits are harder to find & tires are the key parts. The spare doesn't need to fit tightly. I'm pretty sure the tires I used were from the big monogram kits

i'm with corvettekid on this - why not just duplicate the tire and then cut the duplicate instead?

It would be best to build a spare wheel too. I used extra LP400 wheels but that isn't 100% correct

Yeah I guess you're right guys. Considering how rare the lp400 kit is this days it would be a huge shame to destroy a good lp400 tire.

I spent several hours working on the countach today. I am having such a great time with this model haha. Perhaps it is because I've wanted to start it so many times for years and finally got to do it. Anyway, I made some progress on the engine.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140813_203857_zpscb935446.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140813_202121_zps95936b1b.jpg

And for those of you, who have never built a large scale model.....
Look at the size of this thing!!!!!!!
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140810_194437_zpsf2ec7b6f.jpg

Cheers
Emil

what happened to the testarossa?

always an impressive sight, seeing that engine in 1/12 :)

It really is a fun kit to build! Engine is looking great so far!

what happened to the testarossa?



Haha the poor testarossa is a spare kit from my old, already completed build - Wheels melted when I tried to remove chrome from them so I had to get another kit. Now I just test paints etc on it :)

It really is a fun kit to build! Engine is looking great so far!

Thanks!

Few more hours of work today and another update:)
First, I added spark plug wires. While the kit had rubber wires, they were waaaaaay too thick. Some of my reference pictures showed yellow wires, which looked quite nice, but most of them - particularly the old ones were red, so I went with red.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140815_152626_zpsf0b7d435.jpg

I was about to paint and mount the carburetor shafts but... changed my mind and decided to upgade them a bit with steel rood and small spring.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140815_170301_zpsbf57d4f2.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140815_165950_zpsfeecf21f.jpg

I was about to permanently glue the wires and call it a day but the rings, which hold the wires together kept bothering me haha. Maybe I'm crazy, but, especially after I replaced the thick wires with thinner ones, those rings look super huge and toy-like to me. I tried making smaller once. My photos show that the wires should go between the carburetor shaft and the black cover. I'm not 100% sure yet but the new rings should fit.

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140815_185555_zps2c7795c0.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140815_191109_zpsa566f3bc.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140815_191007_zpscb57c0dc.jpg
That's all I managed to do today.

Cheers
Emil

I've made some progress on the engine today. All in all the kit is very nice but shows its age in some areas - some parts look way too thick and toy-like for this scale, so I decided to thin them down a bit and replaced all levers with steel wires.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140830_185427_zps644c03b0.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140830_194756_zpse75323c3.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140830_194913_zps909b773d.jpg

Cheers
Emil

Very nice, the carb linkages came out sharp!

Looks great! Big improvement over the kit parts...

Forewarning, the oil line fitting on the front (rear) of block, behind the air con compressor, is very fragile. When time comes to install the line, be prepared for this to break off.

Forewarning, the oil line fitting on the front (rear) of block, behind the air con compressor, is very fragile. When time comes to install the line, be prepared for this to break off.

Thanks for the heads up. It does look super-fragile. I gues I will replace the kit part with some braided line then.

I added fuel lines yesterday. I can't believe it took me soooooo long to do though:banghead: The part hada lot of flash and because of its size and shape it was quite hard to work with. Anyway, I chopped and since I am not too confident with brush painting, I cut the molded screws and replaced them with turned ones.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140831_200233_zps25860f20.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140831_195308_zps0ec5f56f.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140831_195253_zpsfde4bcf5.jpg

Cheers
Emil

Those fuel lines look fantastic! As does all the linkages etc. Well done! Keep it up!

That engine is looking superb already...very nice work! :)

That thing looks REAL.. dammm..

:yikes:

Tanks for the encouragement guys. I did a little test fit to see hkw much of the details will be hidden after the engine is installed. Luckily, almost all interesting parts will be easy to see!!!!
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140906_160443_zps897159c1.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140906_160713_zps00fc68fd.jpg

Cheers
Emil

So the engine is in the chassis!!!!! And yup.... corvettekid was right about the oil line fitting - it snapped several times hahaha. I just need to figure out the air ducts.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140910_202504_zps501272d2.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140910_202442_zps1955d527.jpg

Suspension was a bit hard to assemble and has some inacuracies, which luckily won't be too obvious on the finished model but at least the ride height seems to be right
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140910_203527_zpsae717288.jpg

Cheers
Emil

Really looks great! I didn't have any problems with suspension other that the axle boots. On my first countach the front suspension was a pita but second one went smooth. The hub halves were tricky to glue together. What wasn't accurate?
Also, the brake calipers are goofy, with only inner halves included. I made them complete on my 2nd build.

Really looks great! I didn't have any problems with suspension other that the axle boots. On my first countach the front suspension was a pita but second one went smooth. The hub halves were tricky to glue together. What wasn't accurate?
Also, the brake calipers are goofy, with only inner halves included. I made them complete on my 2nd build.

Thanks! Actually, the suspension is very accurate (although huuuge pain to assemble - a small piece on the right side snapped and will have to be fixed:/) For some reason I considered the brake calipers, which are quite useless, as part of the suspension haha.

Btw, how did you make these awesome looking air ducts on your build?

I used wire coiled around a tube, then wrapped with teflon tape. On my first car I used liquid electrical tape over them to get them black, but I'm sure there's a better way. Teflon tape doesn't hold paint very well, especially if you need to coax the shape during install. For brake ducts I just left them bare (white)
Hope that helps!

Thanks corvettekid! I tried the teflon idea before but, as you said, it doesn't hold paint too well. Yesterday I tried tamiya masking tape because it is easy to paint and handle afterwards but I'm not sure if it looks good enough. I wonder what you guys think.

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140911_182507_zps9995f4f7.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140911_181958_zps2294873d.jpg

Cheers
Emil

I think it looks good...as good or better than mine.

So the masking tape solution worked but my first attempt was a bit thick and uneven, since I used a 10mm tami masking tape. Today I replaced the tape with masking sheet. It looks much better now imo.

http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140913_130000_zps246da3de.jpg

Engine bay is almost done
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140913_183235_zpsacb41cce.jpg
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg545/Emilssi/countach/20140913_192838_zps752572dc.jpg

Cheers
Emil

Looking good! I like the wiring harness

That looks so good, i'll probably use your model as reference for when I build mine.